


Moral responsibility

by TheBean170



Series: Spider-Gem! [3]
Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, In a way, Origin Story, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24399574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBean170/pseuds/TheBean170
Summary: Yella Zircon-Parker never expected to take her niece under her wing.And she never expected how much she would impact the little girl's life.
Relationships: Blue Zircon/Yellow Zircon (Steven Universe)
Series: Spider-Gem! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727206
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	Moral responsibility

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the late update of the main story, Dodogama is hard at work writing the next chapter. In the meantime, enjoy a bit of worldbuilding and a smidgen of origin story. Don't worry, you'll get the full one eventually ;)

Yella sighed, removing her glasses and rubbing the sides of her head to soothe an oncoming migraine.

She had been laboring over a new lawsuit against a newly discovered mob family, trying to piece together a case that their corrupt attorneys couldn't cheat their way past, but she was hitting loophole after loophole that she struggled to plug up for good.

She leaned back in her office chair, let her arm dangle to the side with her glasses still in her hand. She was ready to refocus back into her case when she felt a small hand tug at her sleeve.

She looked over to see a smaller toddler, with emerald green eyes and fluffy blonde hair, staring up at the adult.

"Auntie, I hungry." She mumbled, clutching at her alien themed pajamas.

"Peridot, it's late. You should be getting to bed, okay?” Yella leaned forward to brush the girl’s hair back.

“I hungry, though…” The small girl began pouting, looking up at her with large beady eyes and an adorable little frown. Yella kept staring down at the child in her care, trying to stay steadfast to her convictions for a normal eating and sleeping schedule for Peridot, but those puppy dog eyes eventually wore her soul down.

“Alright,” She said, getting up from her chair and picking the little one up in her arms, “let’s get you some grub and then it’s straight to bed, missy.” She walked out of her bedroom/office and into the main area of their decently sized apartment.

She instantly spotted her wife, dead asleep on their couch with her own pile of papers and folders strewn about over her lap and on the cushions. The TV bathed her unconscious body in glowing light, tuned to some random Home Shopping Network channel. She hadn’t even changed out of her blue courtroom suit.

Yella scoffed and kept walking to the small kitchenette, setting Peridot down on the counter and moving to look through the cabinets. They hadn’t gone out for groceries that week, so their food supplies were pretty sparse, but eventually she settled on simple PB&J.

  
She got out the peanut butter and jam jars, taking the bread out from their fridge. She made two sandwiches, cutting one in half and removing the crust from it and leaving the other one untouched. She handed the small slice to her niece, and snacked on the other half by her side.

After munching down her late night snack, Peridot let out a small yawn and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Yella smiled and picked her back up into her arms, carrying her to the small air mattress blown up in the corner of their bedroom and set her down. She brought the small blanket they bought over her body and left the room, leaving the door closed once again.

She went back into the kitchen and grabbed the other sandwich, bringing it over to the couch where her lovely wife sat sleeping. She cleared off a cushion from the papers covering it and set the food on the coffee table in front of her. She leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to Bleu’s forehead, rubbing her shoulder affectionately to wake her up.

“Bleuberry, sweetie. I made food.” She whispered.

Bleu’s eyes slowly fluttered open, yawning as her brain restarted from her power ‘nap’. She started stretching but flinched when the papers in her lap fell onto the floor.

“Oh stars, how long was I out?” She mumbled in a post-sleep haze.

“Long enough to miss me ordering takeout. Don’t worry, I made you gourmet.” Yella pointed to the sandwich on the table.

“Oh joy, we’re eating like bourgeoisie tonight.” She smiled as she leaned forward to grab her food, taking small bites while leaning back into the couch. “Is Peridot asleep?”

“Not without sicking those puppy dog eyes on me.”

“Of course she did.”

“We need to pay more attention to her, we’re too invested in our work.”

The two lawyers sat in the blissful ambiance of the TV trying to sell them some cheap knock off product while Bleu enjoyed her sandwich. However, something was gnawing at the two of them with the force of fifteen midlife crises.

And they both knew exactly _who_ was causing that.

“... I think she might need glasses. I saw her trying to read one of the food jars the other day and she kept squirting like she couldn’t see it.” Yella tried to play this off like an offhand comment, but Bleu immediately picked up on the subtext within it.

“Prescription glasses are a heavy investment.”

“Well, it's important to make investments for her long term development.”

“Mhm. How long term, Yella?”

“Bleu-”

“No, Yella, we need to be serious here. We can’t support another person in this household, we can barely keep up our own expenses. I know you want to do right by her, I get it, I feel the exact same way, but we need to be reasonable. I want what’s best for her too, and I don’t think we can give that to her.”

“Bleu, please. She _needs_ us. We’re the only family she has left. No grandparents, no extended family no… no parents. You’ve seen the way she gets uncomfortable when we leave her with babysitters while we’re in court, how do you think she’s going to feel about _adoption?”_

 _“_ I wasn’t talking about adoption, I’m just saying we need to stay flexible. What if her parents come for her, and she’s already too dug i-”

“Bleu, if her parents cared enough about her they would’ve noticed they left her the _second_ they were gone, not two weeks after the police were forced to come to us.”

Bleu stopped speaking at that statement, the meaning behind it weighing thick in the air.

“We need to be there for her, if only till she’s old enough to understand what’s happening. I understand reason, our lives are built on it, but sometimes you need to put reason aside for the moment and listen to empathy. That tyke’s all alone, no one else in this city is going to come searching to protect her. We’re all she’s got. Yes, it’ll be tough, and yes, money may get tough. But I think if it's important enough, we can always find a way to get past adversity. Remember the Quartz trials?”

“How could I forget? I still take Tylenol for the migraines it gave me.”

“We got so close to bankruptcy, so close to being sued ourselves, so close to losing everything. Yet, we powered through, we found a way to surpass all odds and we put them away, for good may I add! If we can do that, we can most certainly do this. Bleu, I know I’m asking a lot, but we can’t leave her isolated.”

Bleu took in a deep breath, pulling Yella’s hand into a tight grasp. She tried to still her beating heart, but the anticipation of the decision left her in… _a state,_ to be sure.

“Okay… Okay, you’re right. I should’ve known you, of all people, would convince me on something like this.” Bleu laid her body against Yella’s, the blonde lawyer laying her head on the brunette. “She does need us. She’s a Parker after all-”

“-And we don’t leave Parkers behind.”

-\0/-

Yella drove down the street, passing by different cars as she struggled to pull her phone out from her pocket. When she reached a stoplight, she finally snagged it free from her clothes and dialed the first number in her contacts, putting it on speaker phone before resuming driving.

“Hey, Lemondrop!” The caller answered.

“Hi, Bleuberry. Almost done up there?”

“Almost, I’m finishing up the last of the paperwork. Are you heading over?”

“Picking up Peridot first, then I’ll swing by to nab you. Did you decide what you want for dinner tonight?”

“Hmm, not yet. I’ll let you know when you get here.”

“Love you, Bleuberry.”

“Love you too, Lemondrop.”

Yella hung up the phone, refocusing on the streets ahead of her. She reached her destination after a few more minutes of driving, pulling into a nearby parking lot. She exited her vehicle and walked up to the kindergarten both her and Bleu chose for Peridot. Parents and adults were already walking up beside her, entering the building and picking up their children to take them home.

Not even a second after she entered through the double doors was her legs assaulted by the tightest hug a five year old could muster.

“Auntie Yella!” Peridot shouted, smiling as the lawyer bent down and pulled her up into her arms.

“Hey Peapod. I’m assuming that it wasn’t as bad as you thought?” She asked as she signed the small girl out with one of the administrators.

“Nope, you we’re right, it was really fun! Well, not at first, but then things happened and it was a lot of fun and I met someone new and then we talked and the teacher was talking about stuff an-”

“Woah, woah, calm down, bud. How about you save those stories for dinner tonight, okay? I’m sure Bleu will be thrilled to hear about your first day.”

“Okay! Where is Auntie Bleu?”

“She’s working a little bit later than usual. We’ll stop by and pick her up on the way home.”

Yella carried her niece back to her vehicle, strapping her into the child seat in the back of the car. Peridot swung her feet back and forth as Yella drove down to the Zircon-Parker law firm office. She picked up her wife from her work, Bleu greeting her wife with a small peck on the cheek and an enthusiastic greeting to the tyke in the back seat. They stopped by a family owned supermarket and picked up ingredients to prepare a hearty spaghetti dinner, then headed straight home to start cooking.

After setting the table, the three quickly dug into the delicious meal handcrafted by Bleu. Peridot babbled and retold her exciting first day of kindergarten. Much as the aunts had expected, her temper tantrum that morning was unwarranted as she had a wonderful time both learning and getting to know new people.

What they hadn’t expected, however, is exactly _how_ she met those people.

“- So, I’m really scared of Jasper, and she’s being all mean to me, right? The teachers aren’t anywhere close, and I really thought she was gonna clobber me!”

“Uh huh...” The adults said collectively. Bleu looked like she was about to pass out. Yella was fully enthralled in the story Peridot was recounting.

“So, she was all ‘Grr, I’m a big meanie! Give me your lunch!’ And I was about to, when all of a sudden this girl came out of nowhere and she was like ‘pick on somebody your own size!’ She was all neat and tough and really, really cool! She scared Jasper off and she turned to me and was like ‘Are you okay?” and I was like “We should be friends!” You know, like you said. And we became bestest friends!”

“And what was this mysterious stranger’s name?” Yella asked, crossing her arms on the table.

“Her name’s Lapis! She has really blue eyes and she’s just super cool in general. She says she can’t pronounce her last name but that it starts with an L too.”

“W-Well then, that’s certainly an… exciting story. I’m glad you had an _experience_ today, we can talk more tomorrow. Why don’t you go wash up and get changed for bed, okay? We’ll be in soon to say goodnight.” Bleu said, collecting plates and dirty dishes to put into the sink.

Peridot nodded and hopped down from her chair, rushing off to get ready for bed. Yella got up and began helping Bleu clean up both the dinning room and the kitchen.

“We are most certainly going to have a talk with the parents of that _Jasper_ character,” Bleu complained, spitting out the bully’s name like it was a lemon seed. “Maybe we should get an administrator involved, or the principle, maybe we should pursue some sort of legal ac-”

“Woah Woah, this isn’t the mob boss of the week, honey, this is just a little girl. I agree with talking to her parents, but legal action is a _bit_ extreme, don’t you think?” Yella came up behind her wife and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, hugging her to try and calm her down.

“Well, _I_ don’t think it's unreasonable… But, maybe you’re right. I just want to make sure Peri isn’t getting picked on or getting into trouble at school.”

Yella smirked at her wife. “Remember those stories of the dads that don’t want to adopt a dog, and then they get really close to them despite that?”

Bleu frowned. “Are you calling Peridot an animal?”

“That’s not exactly the comparison I was drawing.”

The two lawyers finished up cleaning up the kitchen, sneaking into their bedroom to find Peridot already snuggled up under her covers. They each pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaving her to sleep. They both sat down on their couch to share some late night TV, with Bleu bringing a blanket from their bedroom to cover up with.

“I will say, though, I’m glad she’s meeting new people. That Lapis really seems to care about her.”

“Yeah, I’m glad she’s meeting and making friends with new people. And I’m most certainly appreciative of anyone who’s willing to stand up for Peri.”

“Yes… There’s certainly something special about her. I do hope things work out for them.”

-\0/-

The blonde unlocked the door to her home, stepping inside and locking it behind her. She sighed, setting her briefcase down beside her legs.

Oddly enough, the entire apartment was plunged in pitch darkne-

“SURPRISE!”

The lights all flipped on as both Bleu and Peridot jumped from behind the couch, both of them wearing party hats and party horns in their mouths. A large banner, slightly bland but still heartfelt, hung from the ceiling that read ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YELLA!’ while balloons littered the floor. Yella placed a hand to her chest in shock as her face turned from slight fear to pleasant surprise.

Peridot rushed forward, the middle schooler wrapping her aunt in a tight hug. “Happy Birthday, Aunt Yella!” She said enthusiastically.

Bleu came practically skipping behind her, also joining in on the hug. “Happy 44th, Lemondrop.” She said lovingly.

Yella chuckled and hugged as tight as she could in response. When they backed away, Peridot rushed off giggling to her room (a much needed addition when they moved to a more spacious location) while Bleu led her wife to the kitchen.

“She’s probably going to get your present.” She pecked a kiss at her lips. “She’s been working on it for a month, I think.”

“Uh oh, should I be excited or worried?” Yella responded sarcastically.

The lawyer gasped as she saw a lovely banana cake with vanilla frosting sitting on the counter, candles in the shape of the number forty four and the frosting in the of a well-wishing message.

“Oh, Bleu, thank you. This is miles better than anything else today.”  
  


“Hold your thoughts on that one, dear, Peri found her present.”

Yella turned her head to see Peridot come rushing out with a gift-wrapped box in her hands, almost dancing with excitement as she presented her gift.

“Ta-Da!” She said, pushing the gift into Yella’s hands. She gently took it out of her grasp and examined it, trying to guess what the item hidden away was. “See, the ribbon is even yellow!”

“Ah. Bleu, she’s got my number.”

“Yellow is very much your color dear.”

“Well? Are you gonna open it?”  
  


Yella gently removed the yellow ribbon and unwrapped the present. Inside the box was a… well, it certainly _resembled_ a pen, if that pen had serious mafioso level collisions with a Swiss Army Knife and a Steampunk fair. It was clearly homemade, one of Peridot’s numerous inventions added to the annals of history, with a specific theme of silver and yellow.

“It’s a multi-functional writing utensil, designed with up to fifteen different functions such as fountain pen, ballpoint pen, pencil, crayon, and even toothpick! It’s all controlled via the buttons on the side. I noticed you’re always struggling to look for something to write with, so I thought I’d solve that for you!” Peridot explained, pointing to different parts of the device to highlight the features.

The blonde lawyer flipped the pen slightly, noticing something possibly marking up one of the metal parts of the device. After reading it, she smiled a wide grin, setting the pen down and pulling her niece into another tight hug.

“I love it, Peapod. It’s perfect.”

On the pen was an inscribed message.

**_‘Sour like a lemon. Sweet like lemonade.’_ **

-\0/-

Yella combed back a stray strand of her hair, checking her appearance in the bathroom mirror before smiling with satisfaction. She was dressed in casual clothing, her day off not warranting for her to dress in her Sunday Best.

She flipped off the bathroom light, walking out and gathering up her car keys. “Bleu, we’re about to head out.” She said, stuffing her keys in her pocket and grabbing her coat off the hanger by the front door.

“Okay, please don’t be home late! I don’t like you staying out in the city given what you’re working on.” Bleu responded, rushing out from the bedroom/office and quickly moving to give her wife a kiss.

“Not the plan, she’s just gonna study up while I head around town for some knick and knacks. We’ll be home by six, at the latest.” Yella responded, leaving another kiss on her wife.

“Did she decide on a color for her room?”

“Turquoise.” The blonde turned her head to the side. “Peridot! We going, or what?”

Peridot came rushing out of her room, a _familiar_ jacket wrapped around her shoulders tightly while her backpack hung off her shoulders.

“Sorry, I was gathering my… supplies. Ready when you are!”

“Go on ahead, I’ll meet you in the car.”

Peridot nodded and rushed out the door, racing down the hallway to the exit of the apartment complex.

Yella turned back to her wife, holding her in her arms for just a moment.

“Love you, Bleuberry.”

“Love you more, Lemondrop.”

Yella left one _last_ kiss and left out the door, shutting the door behind her and walking down to her car. She got inside, Peridot already seated in the passenger seat, and drove away.

As she drove down the New York streets, she finally got a better view of that jacket that her niece was wearing. “Hey… Is that my old varsity hoodie? From Midtown High?”  
  


Peridot, seemingly distracted with the buildings passing by her window, snapped back into focus as she looked down at what she was wearing. “H-Huh? Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize. I saw it in your closet, thought it looked cool. I-I can give it back if you’re not okay with me using it.” She explained, still keeping the seam closed tight.

“No no, it suits you. Keep it, it’s nice.” Yella came to a halt at one of the stoplights. “So, here’s the plan. I’m gonna drop you off at the library, let you get your study session with Lapis in, and I’ll go around town getting some to-do’s done. I’ll come back around 5:30, pick you up, and we’ll drop by the hardware store to pick up the paint for your room, okay?”

“5:30? W-Wait, can’t you swing by later? Lapis, uh… really needs help with this project?”

“What time are we talking about here, Peri?”  
  


“... Seven?”

“Five and a half hours?! Peridot, that’s a bit excessive don’t you think?”

“I… just need the time, that’s all.”

Yella sighed as she turned a street corner, slowing the car down in a slower speed zone. “Listen Peri, I don’t wanna be out that late. You’re gonna have to tell Lapis to schedule another session. People… People aren’t too happy with me right now, I don’t wanna stay late in the city.”

Peridot stayed silent as they finally pulled up to the public library…

… One located right across from a wrestling venue.

“Well. We’re here.” Yella said, putting the car into park and turning to face her niece. “Say hi to Lapis for me, okay?”

Peridot nodded silently, grabbing her backpack and moving to open the car door. However, right before she could open it, she moved her hand away and instead turned back to face her aunt.

“Aunt Yella… Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Peri, you can ask me anything.”

“If… If you have extraordinary talents, things you can do that no other person can do, it wouldn’t exactly be _wrong_ to cash in on those talents, right?”

Yella sighed, turning the car off for the moment. “Well, Peri, that always depends on what talents you’re talking about. I mean, Bleu and I have a very interesting job. The things we do, they affect people in drastically different ways, both financially and beyond. Now, it would be so easy to take all the bribes, and payoffs we get on a day to day basis, and we get a lot. We could make a lot more money than we do now, but that means sacrificing our moral code, something we both hold highly above almost everything else. Now, we don’t stay like this out of some… tragic backstory or some complex mental gymnastics, it’s very simple actually: We just do it because it’s the right thing to do. We use our talents for good, simply because that’s what’s good for others.”

“That’s… not exactly what I was expecting. But, thanks. I guess.”

Peridot tried to turn to leave again and but Yella reached out to stop her, pulling her back into her car seat.

“Listen, Peapod, I know my advice may sound confusing, but I want you to know that I went through the exact same thing you’re going through when I was your age-”

“- No, not exactly.”

“My point is, you’re changing, from a blank slate into the person you were _meant_ to be. What I’m saying is, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Peridot, no matter what happens, always try to remember…”

_With great power, comes great responsibility._


End file.
